Hawthorne Field Airport officials hope to reopen the old grass runway originally used when the facility opened in Kountze in the 1960s.

Dale Williford, who runs the airport, said he hopes to recruit volunteers to help smooth the now bumpy and overgrown path adjacent to the current runway. The original runway was built to allow planes to travel with the direction of the wind a majority of the time, said Williford, who is also a criminal investigator for the district attorney.

The addition to the airport will help those pilots struggling to land on the paved runway in a strong cross wind, he said.

Pilots of experimental planes, several of which call the airport home, and trainers like to use grass runways, Williford said. Since the airport on Joe Register Road offers flight classes, the grass runway would receive plenty of use. The grass runway would face the current airport windsock, which, lit up at night, helps inform pilots the direction of the wind.

The addition would also help address an increase in general aviation traffic over the years, he said.

In the past year, pilots have flown to the airport from Switzerland, North Carolina, Vancouver, British Columbia, Shreveport, La., and points in between. Gov. Rick Perry also landed at the airport about a year ago.

Williford said they believe the farthest anyone has traveled to the airport has been from the Czech Republic a few years ago.